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Let's see how they got on whale watching.. Sounds like that will have been a great experience. One never to forget! ..well.. it probably would have been had we ever got to do it! Unfortunately for us, today has only let us see one thing. 20 feet in front of the motor home we are driving!
Sometimes it can rain pretty heavily for a couple of hours to stop you doing something you had hoped to. Sometimes it can even rain all day, getting heavier and lighter by the hour.Once it rained so heavily Noah had to gather up the animals 2 by 2 and build an ark for them. After today, I reckon Noah only really got a shower! It has rained torrentially all day, without a break of even 5 mins! It was so bad that when we drove to Picton, water was actually flowing like a river down the road and several of the bankings were actually falling down as we drove past them! Fields were flooded left and right of the road. Crazy stuff!
As we left Christchurch this morning, I assured Louise the rain would only be a local shower. The fact that she was still half asleep due to the 7.30 departure time helped here! It did not stop her noticing that I was leaving the diesel purchasing a little close when with 60km left to our destination and no petrol stations before it the petrol light came on. I tried to keep my cool as the road so far had been relatively straight and flat. Easy I thought. As with most things this holiday, it was not that simple. About 2kms further on, we stumbled upon a section of road which would not be out of place in the Tour de France! Climbing and climbing, I was starting to sweat a bit, but reaching the top we managed to drop down to a petrol station just before disaster struck. 60kms on the light is good going though! Phewee! Off to do the whale watch now..!
By 10am we had arrived at Kaikoura, a town which only seems to do boat trips or offer cheapo accommodation to backpackers. Neither of the businesses were exactly thriving today though given the rotten weather. It was still chucking it down as I ran across the car park to the check-in terminal. All sailing cancelled signs confirmed my fears, but the fact there are unlikely to be any all week due to continued wind and rain, made it slightly better.
Refund in pocket, we sat and had our rice bubbles (no krispies here!) watching the waves! Deciding there was no point in staying in Kaikoura, we thought we'd head round to Picton (our ferry terminal), stopping en-route to see what we could see. We quickly had an answer.. HEE HAW! The road which ran along a barren coastline had about as many attractions open as Aviemore did in the 90s. And like the Scottish town, these were all rubbish!
We made it to Picton by 1.30pm, a whole 4 hours ahead of schedule and as this place had nothing in it either, we have sat since then in our van chilling out and trying not to get washed away. Oh, and I also managed to empty the waste tank and toilet while getting soaked. Great day all in!
We are now going to get a night ferry to Wellington to try and make some more time for exploring the north island tomorrow.. If it stops raining!
Over and drought. (We wish!)
L & A
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